The Human Rights Campaign announced April 23 the letter from Hilton; IKEA North America Services; InterContinental Hotels Group; Lyft; Marriott International; MassMutual; Nike; Replacements Ltd.; Salesforce; Unilever; and Warby Parker. They wrote that bills targeting LGBTQ people are bad for employees and their families, customers and business.

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ABOVE: Runners make their way through the streets of Orlando as part of the 2018 4.9k CommUNITY Rainbow Run. Photo by Jeremy Williams

ORLANDO | Registration has opened for the third annual 4.9k CommUNITY Rainbow Run, scheduled to take place on June 8. The event is hosted by Orlando Health and Nike, and produced in partnership with UCF’s DeVos Sport Business Management Program. Organizers of the 2019 Rainbow Run, which honors the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting by benefiting the onePULSE Foundation, have also released images of the run’s new medal.

According to a press release sent out by the onePULSE Foundation, this year’s medal is full of symbolism. Designed by the Yellow Shoes Creative Group at the Walt Disney World Resort and the onePULSE Foundation, the front of the medal is etched with a rainbow feature and the onePULSE logo in place of the zero in 2019. On the back of the medal is a pair of angel wings with 49 feathers, in addition to the quote, “We will not let hate win.” To top it off, the medal hangs from a white lanyard with 49 doves on it.

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Fifty-six major companies came out Nov. 1 against a reported Trump administration plan to eliminate transgender protections under federal law, asserting transgender people must “be treated with the respect and dignity everyone deserves.”

“We oppose any administrative and legislative efforts to erase transgender protections through reinterpretation of existing laws and regulations,” the companies said in a statement. “We also fundamentally oppose any policy or regulation that violates the privacy rights of those that identify as transgender, gender non-binary or intersex.”

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) | A transgender software engineer who worked as a Nike contractor says in a recently filed complaint with state labor officials that the company did nothing to stop abuse and harassment by other contractors.

Jazz Lyles, who identifies as transmasculine/nonbinary and prefers the pronouns “they” and “them,” says in a complaint filed Sept. 25 that some of their colleagues refused to use gender-neutral pronouns.

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Los Angeles – Nike really did “Just Do It,” to show support for LGBT athletes and their fans. The corporate giant presented the LGBT Sports Coalition with a check for $200,000 to fund the project’s members. The presentation was held at a Nike Store at The Grove in Los Angeles.

For the last two years, Nike has held the LGBT Sports Summit in Portland, Ore., during the city’s Pride celebration. From this year’s summit emerged the formalized LGBT Sports Coalition, comprised of a couple dozen organizations and individuals dedicated to ending anti-LGBT bias in sports by 2016.

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Watermark is a multi-faceted media company using opportunities and innovations to communicate and advance LGBT interests, with a corporate emphasis on professionalism while building strong relationships with our readers, customers and community.

Watermark Media was founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando in 1994, and expanded to Tampa Bay in 1995. Dyer is an attorney, former board member of the Metropolitan Business Association and Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and current advisory board member of the Harvey Milk Foundation.

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